Disney is without a doubt a pioneer when it comes to theme park entertainment.
Disneyland in the 1950s paved the way for decades when it came to rides and attractions.
Today, there are a few forms of entertainment that are growing and gaining popularity that
Disney has nothing to do with.
I’d love to see Disney get involved, and I want to start with them locking me in a room.
That’s right!
I’m talking about Escape rooms!
If you’ve never heard of them before, escape rooms are real life adventure games that usually
take place in a few rooms.
The basic premise is that players in groups, typically around two to ten people, are locked
into a room which happens to be full of different puzzles.
Usually over the course of one hour, players need to solve those puzzles, with each one
bringing players closer to the final key or combination that they use to escape the room.
The best part is that beyond the basic concept of the closed space and the series of puzzles,
there’s a ton of flexibility regarding what the plot and theme of the escape room can
be based on.
There are haunted house escape rooms, spaceship escape rooms, 1940s gangster themed escape rooms.
On top of that different companies make use of different types of puzzles to drive the
gameplay, making it rare to find two escape rooms that are exactly the same.
They’re interactive, they’re entertaining, and they can be highly immersive.
That’s why they’d be a perfect fit for Walt Disney World.
Now, considering each room is usually designed for two to ten people and games usually last
an hour, escape rooms would make for horrible theme park attractions.
Today the name of the game when it comes to theme parks is getting as many people through
the attraction as quickly as possible.
However one of the staples of Walt Disney World as a resort is that it offers so much
to do outside of just the theme parks and rides.
So while escape rooms in The Magic Kingdom don’t make much sense, escape rooms in Disney
Springs? Perfect!
When you take the concept of these games, add in the genius of Walt Disney Imagineering,
not to mention the wide variety of franchises and films that you can use as a setting, you
get an experience with near limitless potential.
Here are just a few ideas for Disney escape rooms:
First off, on the spooky end, how about a Tower of Terror themed room?
You and your group are trapped in one of the Hollywood Tower Hotel rooms and have an hour
to try and solve the mysteries of the Twilight Zone in order to escape before being trapped
there forever.
For a more kid friendly experience, what about a Enchanted Tiki Room… room?
The angered Tiki gods lock your group in the room and you have to solve a series of puzzles
to prove you’re worthy of escaping.
It can even feature the four animatronic hosts of the show who throw out humorous one-liners
as you try to solve the puzzles or maybe even provide tips and hints if you’re stuck.
In the realm of sci-fi you can have either a Star Wars or a Guardians of the Galaxy themed room.
The idea of being trapped on a spaceship would perfectly fit into the escape room format.
Perhaps on the other side of the final door is the “escape pod” that would bring you
back to safety.
Or here’s a fun one, what about an Inside Out themed room?
You and your group are trapped inside someone’s head and have to use memories to solve riddles
and puzzles to get the character to do something before you can leave.
Lastly, how about an escape room based on Indiana Jones?
Perhaps Indy is trapped in a ancient tomb somewhere and you have to navigate and solve
a series of traps and puzzles to open the tomb and free him.
You can even have the prize for winning be a meet and greet and photo op with the Indy character.
You know, normally when I make these videos with ideas for ways to enhance the Disney
experience I offer up the disclaimer that the ideas probably aren’t realistic or possible
for one reason or another.
Not this time though.
Escape rooms are a growing trend that are gaining popularity, and Disney without a doubt
has the talent, creativity, and resources to put something like this together somewhere
in the Walt Disney World or Disneyland resort.
So for once I can say I would genuinely love to see this happen.
Anyway now the fun part: I want to hear from you!
Let me know in the comments below what your idea for a Disney themed escape room would
be like!
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Next week I’ll be talking about another entertainment idea I’d love to see brought
to the Disney parks.
Until then, have a great week and I'll see you next time!